New rally fiend from missouri

[RallyFiend]

Hey, Im new to special stage but a long time driver and rally fanatic :p

I was wondering how one would go about finding some good country roads to rally on for practice.

Also were I can find rally parts for a GTi from the late 80's

Thanks

[Jim Robison]

Late 80's? Have you considered building your GTi to Historic Class rules?

[RichardM]

And no, you do not find country roads to practice on. Find a closed area such as an off-road park to practice. That way, not only are you legal (important for your insurance) but in a controlled condition where you can practice a set maneuver until you get it right.

[RallyFiend]

Jim; I plan on racing stage and rallyX events. I am currently looking into Group 2 however I am planing on buying a rally ready in any case.

Rich; How would I go about finding an off-road park?

[RallyFiend]

I would also like to know about rally X and how many points are awarded to your license for running in one?

[RichardM]

Rich; How would I go about finding an off-road park?

Google probably works best. Or go to an off-road shop, one that sells to Jeeps, and ask. Or a motorcycle shop that has more off-road bike on display that crotch rockets.

[bknblk]

Welcome. Fill in your profile so when know where you are. If you are in Hannibal, I won't invite you to rally cross with us in Wichita, but if you are in Joplin, I will!

There's a active group of SCCAer's out of STL that rally cross and put on 100 acre wood. Rally crossing won't get you points toward getting out of novice provisions of a Rally America licence. NASA rallysport= doesn't restrict novices.

Come work, hang out, learn a ton. Rally TN and Rally de Paris (texas) ar in you neighborhood. Rally neighborhoods are big :) 6 hour drive = home event :)

Group 2 is the perfect beginner car IMHO.

[RallyFiend]

Well I know I want group 2 however I dont know all the regulations for group 2 cars:(
I tried looking through rallyamerica's rule book, however, the description is ambiguous.
I want to race a 1987-1988 VW Golf GTI

[RichardM]

Group 2 rules are easy. In summary and not 100% of the rules but:
Fully meet the safety rules for the cage, belts, seats.
Keep the engine displacement within the class rules and meet weight for that displacement.
Allowed suspension mods: any and all.
Allowed transmission mods: any and all
Allowed interior mods: any and all
Allowed engine mods: almost any and all

The car must remain street licensed in Missouri so that may mean meeting pollution requirements.

[RallyFiend]

right, now where can I find the Engine displacement rules and group 2 rules in general

[RichardM]

I am at work with a slow connection instead of at home with the rule book in front of me. But if you have a fast connection, the link to the rules can be found here:
http://rally-america.com/rules.php

[Bill Beers]

right, now where can I find the Engine displacement rules and group 2 rules in general

RA rulebook, p. 80.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4505334863_5dea2060ac.jpg

[Kim 100AW]

If you're in Eastern Missouri, contact Skip Sayers @ Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi. He rents his roads to 100AW competitors for testing and he's got lots of them....all behind a fence with no PR worries. Trying to test on county roads not controlled for rally purposes will most likely land you in hot water with local officials....and rally officials.

There's also a motorsport park in the planning stages in Jefferson County, but I have no idea if there would be enough service road, etc. to be valuable for rally testing.

RallyCrosses in St. Louis usually run on an unpaved parking lot at Gateway International Raceway, although sometimes there are other venues....great practice...where Chris Greenhouse (winner of everything G2 in the Midwest) got his start about 4-5 years ago.

[RallyFiend]

RA rulebook, p. 80.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4505334863_5dea2060ac.jpg

Hey thanks for the Info! exactly what I was looking for!:D

[RallyFiend]

Kim 100AW
I will check that out! I am about 5 hrs from salem so I will be seeing about going down there!

[RallyFiend]

Now about the restriction on weight with displacement
Does that mean that the car has to be that weight dry and with no other equipment for the rally in it? Or can I add weights to it if it is too light?

[RichardM]

One thing you need to do before you ever spend any money on a rally car is to read the rule book at least twice. Three times if you are as smart as me. :) Again, that is in the rule book, how the car is weighed. And yes, you can add ballast as needed.

[RallyFiend]

well Im glad I found the forums:D
I am planning on buying the VW Golf GTI from the classifieds on this site, any thoughts?
either of the 3 are ones that I am checking out

[RichardM]

I am not sure what is for sale on the forums so I will leave that up to others. But it is considered better to buy rather than build. Hopefully you will be ready next 100 Acre Wood so you can beat me. :)

[Jim Robison]

How would I go about finding an off-road park?

Try www.nohvcc.org and select your state. Also check your state park system for OHV parks. Most performance rallies in California are run in OHV parks so you may get to practice on roads that will later be used for rallies.

Also, rallycrosses are a great way to practice. I believe most are sanctioned by SCCA, so check their web site in addition to R-A and NASA-RS.

[RallyFiend]

I am not sure what is for sale on the forums so I will leave that up to others. But it is considered better to buy rather than build. Hopefully you will be ready next 100 Acre Wood so you can beat me. :)

It would be so nice to be able to complete the entire championship, evidently 100AW was were I really developed my love for the sport, other than the hours upon hours of watching WRC on youtube and playing Colin McRae Dirt.

[bknblk]

I think they rallycross near Lincoln NE. Wichita SCCA rallycrosses at the kansas state fair grounds in Hutchinson, not stupid far from you. We called off april, looking for June.

[RallyFiend]

well I will try and get the cash together to come up and we will see.

[Jupiter5]

I recommend staying WAY far away from county roads.
In college not too far away from you up in Warrensburg (cmsu) i spent 4 years or so tearing the living piss out of those roads and tearing the living piss out of my Volvo. (mid to late 90's) Just going to work and back and messing around....then I had to cool it when the police pulled me over and said, "i have no idea what you've been doing but judging by the complaints we have been getting, if we see you doing what they're saying or have to pull you out of a ditch, you're going straight to jail...." and that was that for my extracurricular activities in my 100hp of yellow 4 speed terror. find private places, rally-x, to learn a bit on. I'm in the process of getting into this too and that is what I have found. mostly get into the rally-cross stuff near where you live and enjoy that to start with. The cost of trying to not only pay a speeding ticket but also fixing any damage you did to your car much less the property you rolled it onto from a gravel embankment...or possibly bailing yourself out of jail for outright insanity is the same or higher than an entry fee + travel to a full on rally....where such behavior is smiled upon and put on youtube.

regulations. read them all. i have been closely examining the rules. there are multipliers for the engine displacements so try not to get too deep into planning, as RA and NASA have two different engine size limits, and it would suck to build something that you have to travel 1500 miles to race if the displacements or valve numbers are wrong. (ie: 3 liters 4v overhead cam or 3.8liters pushrod for RA, but 2.65 liters 2v or 2.2 for 4v or 3.3 liters pushrod for NASA....that sort of thing) so something that can fit both such as a Golf running a 2 liter would get you really into ANY rally being sanctioned and into any rally-x you can find. perfect! besides, i keep reading that a well driven car with a stock power engine can be very competitive in G2. so we can save money there.

good luck! have fun! that's the name of the game!

[RallyFiend]

Hey, thanks for the insight J5, I was thinking the same thing about displacement and I figured that I would just run a stock engine I-4 16v or maybe its V-4 and 16v whichever the case, I would only add intake and exhaust to the engine.
Tell me how everything is going.
My dad went to CMSU

[Mad Mike]

Since you're in Lees Summit you're not far from west MO. driver/rallyetruck owner Trey Teegarden who lives in Peculiar. He's truckymedic here on the forums, has been my Crew Chief at several ProRally events and is current owner of the machine we call the SORT (Son Of RallyeTruck).

Likewise, you are not far from a RallyCross event in Tulsa this weekend that will hopefully resurrect these competitions for NEOkla Region SCCA after a decade long hiatus. Details are here - http://neoklascca.org/ - here - http://greencountrymotorsports.com/index.php/topic,3411.0.html - and finally, registration is here - http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.advert/uidEvent/F842D38D-D29D-EC07-B347DBD0E6504F8F

There are only 25 entries at this point so come on down Sunday! Let me know and I'll get you in touch with Trey ...